Scandals and rivals have stalled him, but Clinton hopes to regain momentum by getting out of town

Bill Clinton took a seat in the front row of the White House family theater last Tuesday night while a panel of historians, retired generals and combat veterans discussed the Normandy invasion. When the talk turned to Omaha Beach, the costliest battle on D-day, 1944, Clinton listened intently as his guests explained that the deadly Omaha landings had not gone according to plan. The predawn bombing raids had missed their targets; the undertow was so strong that many G.I.s lost or abandoned their weapons before reaching land; instead of one German battalion guarding the shore, the Americans arrived to find three,...